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Eston Language
The Eston Language, or commonly just Eston, is a spoken language descended from Old Hest, an extinct tongue that was once prevalent in and around the Hestic peninsula. Eston shares much of its grammar and vocabulary with the others in the Tonian family, especially Varnic and Cargevian. As the name suggests, Eston is spoken principally by the Eston people who reside in the Kingdom of Eston and the Roxem Union. In recent years, Eston has become, in effect, the common language of the world, employed in situations where two speakers' native languages are not mutually intelligible. The entry you are currently reading, and nearly all other entries within this register, are written in Eston. Development and Influences Old Hest was first recorded by Spirese chroniclers during the early emperion. It was noted to be similar to the other "vulgar" speeches in its vicinity, but unlike any of the Stalwart or Tericiate examples of which the empire was already familiar. The study and and eventual translation of Old Hest is believed to have had a major role in the ease at which the Spirese conquered and/or incorporated the Tonian tribes. Spirese influence on the language was limited to loanwords among the educated class. In contemporary Eston, these terms are usually considered either obscure or high-level vocabulary, and no longer heard in general conversation. Old Hest was extinct or nearly extinct by the time Balmic rule came to Eston, replaced by the slightly more recognizable Middle Hest, or Old Eston. Middle Hest had a greater influence on the Balmic-speaking immigrants than the introduction of the Balmics had on itself, resulting in a Balmic-Hest hybrid known as High Eston. Modern Eston was regularly spoken by nearly all Estons by the year 1000 AE. Grammar and Vocabulary Eston is the quintessential Tonian language, exhibiting nearly all of the family's identifying traits. Most uniquely, the term "to", which is used to identify particular directions of motion, show relations between two things, indicate a comparison, express the object affected by an action, and mark infinitives. In Non-Tonian languages, "to" has no equivalent. Also unique to Tonian languages is the sound produced by the digraph "tr". When the same letters are written in other languages, the resulting effect is two separate consonant sounds. (a "t" followed by an "r"). In Eston, however, the two combined are pronounced as a single sound, commonly rendered "chr" or "jr". Eston has a unique system of articles which are based on the object’s relation to the speaker, rather than their quantity (as is more common). "This" is used to define objects near to the speaker, while "that" calls attention to objects either farther away, or with a more distant symbolic relation. In the only plural form, which functions for all numbers greater than one, “these” and “those” are employed, respectively. Usage Eston has earned a reputation as the premier language of business throughout the globe, and is known as a second or third language by nearly all living people in contact with the civilized world. Eston's spreading is not due to its simplicity or utility, but the simple fact that most prominent colonization and trading missions are conducted by Eston-speaking corporations, chiefly Croxley Trade and the NCU. Despite all of its dominance among merchants and businessman, Eston has yet to surpass Svard as the language of literature, Totrian as the language of diplomacy, or Spiran as the language of the academia. But within its own circle, it is and shall always be the first choice auxiliary tongue no matter the place or time.